1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solar pool heaters and more particularly pertains to such a heater which is compact, inexpensive and convenient to use and to store.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of solar pool heaters is known in the prior art. More specifically, such heaters heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of transferring solar heat to the water in a swimming pool are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Some, such as that is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,168 are built into the pool structure. Others of the floating variety include membranes, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,806; small enclosed heat concentrating devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,060 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,443; and floating tubular members through which the water may flow as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,052. All of these prior art devices are either relatively expensive to construct or are bulky in nature.
In this respect, the heater according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an inexpensive, easily stored efficient solar heater.